Spring Break: Au revoir Cancun, Bonjour Paris!

By Dustin Looney
Courier Staff

Virtually every student who travels overseas through a foreign exchange program comes back with a positive response. The recent spring break Study Abroad Class to Paris, France provided no exceptions.

This year’s program was organized by assistant professor, Don Capener and Tom Sienkewicz, Minnie Billings Capron Professor of Classics.

The trip consisted of 16 MC students: Jackie Angelotti, Tomas Alvarez, Shemshedin Beciri, Ashley Cook, Nick Davis, Allison Henry, Natasha Kemmerling, Pat LaPorta, Sarah Miller, Brooke Morgan, Aaron Payette, Emily Percy, Ann Sims, Jeff Tucker, Kayla Witherell and Carly Wolf.

Although most of the members of the group are majoring in business, the program was not restricted to business majors.

Junior Natasha Kemmerling, communication and theater arts major, said she could not pass up this opportunity.

“I always wanted to go to Europe, so I thought I might as well do it now,” she stated.

The students departed from O’Hare Airport on Saturday, March 4 and spent their entire spring break in Paris, returning on the following Saturday.

Each member of the group received two credit hours for the trip, and they each experienced the life of a real traveler: they stayed at a hostel in Paris every night.

The professors had many business meetings and other school-related activities planned for the students and each student was required to keep a journal and write a paper at the end of the trip.

Despite the academic requirements, the students were also privileged to have a good deal of free time in the City of Lights.

Kemmerling also felt she made the most of her free time as she visited many of the major sites, including the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame Cathedral.

Overseas classes are available to Monmouth College students every year, and there is usually a spring break class/trip organized by Capener and Sienkewicz.

These week-long excursions have received high marks from the student participants, and they provide a good compromise for the student who wants to get the foreign exchange experience without sacrificing a full semester on the MC campus. As Kemmerling said, “A lot of students don’t want to take a full semester from their college experience, but these week or 10 day trips are a happy medium.”

Studying abroad can be an important part of the college experience and a week in any foriegn country can provide unforgettable memories.